Sun Spotting?

Why is everyone excited about this picture?

atlantis_hst_2009may13

Actually, there’s a dot on the bottom left quadrant. What is it? What did the excellent photographer Thierry Legault manage to image?

Well, it’s wonderful:

atlantis_hst_2009may13crop

It is the shuttle Atlantis together with the Hubble telescope, on the repair mission I mentioned earlier! Isn’t that amazing? Here’s a shot of the Atlantis on its own:

atlantis_against_sun_legault

See Phil’s Bad Astronomy Blog for more discussion of how he did it.

-cvj

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2 Responses to Sun Spotting?

  1. Yvette says:

    Wow! What a beautiful photo, thanks for sharing it.

  2. robert says:

    Far out man! The London Times put this picture on its front page, with the headline ‘Set your controls for the heart of the sun’. Showing that old hippies never die, but in fact go on to get proper jobs in later life.